


Where Were You Last Tuesday?

by lma88



Category: Broadchurch
Genre: Alcoholics Anonymous, Crush, Depression, Drinking, Friendship, OC, Reverend Paul Coates, Romantic Comedy, romantic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-01
Updated: 2014-03-11
Packaged: 2018-01-10 18:53:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,356
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1163267
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lma88/pseuds/lma88
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Paul meets the newest member of his AA group and decides to befriend her. Alice says she isn't a "real" alcoholic; she just needs to finish some court mandated AA meetings for a minor charge of drunk and disorderly conduct. Maybe she doesn't "really" have a drinking problem but that doesn't mean she doesn't need someone to talk to. And Paul is more then willing to help</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> There will be some allusion to depression and substance abuse in this story but I didn't think it warranted a stronger rating.

"Where does addiction come from? Everything we need or want comes from something deep down inside of us. A subconscious voice that you can't control demanding to be fed. It's a little scary sometimes to think about it because the hardest thing to do is turn around and actually take a good look at yourself. You get this terrible feeling in the pit of your stomach because you know you're not going to like what you find." Paul speaks to the rest of the group the words he needs to hear. 

It's been a little over a year since he finally stopped drinking and yet it wasn't quite what he had expected. He didn't feel cured. He just felt like he'd learned to tune out the nagging voice in the back of his head. He could hardly hear the voice now but it wasn't really gone; not entirely. 

Paul had always felt uncomfortable in his own skin for some reason. He was a very anxious child but he grew up to be a pretty good speaker to everyone's surprise. He'd developed insomia years ago and his sleeping problems got so bad he figured a drink or two would get him to calm his nerves and sleep. But when drinking becomes the only way you can get to sleep at night you start to wake up every morning wondering if getting out of bed was really worth the effort. It was making him depressed and he needed to stop. It was actually his drinking that got him into trouble at his old job. 

He could only vaugely remember the night he found a 14 year old hoursing around in the car park behind the church. He can't remember what sort of nonsense was said but the boy had dared him to do it and kept insisting Paul couldn't do it; whatever 'it' was. Next thing either of them knew Paul had found himself inadvertently punching a minor in the face and to save the church from anything embarrasing he was moved to the sweet, sleepy town of Broadchurch.

Paul took the change of scenery as a chance to start over from scratch. He'd drive over an hour away from home every Tuesday night for Alcoholics Anonymous so as to keep it as anonymous as possible. He couldn't very well go to the meetings in Broadchurch since everyone in town knew he was the new vicar. Imagine the scandel if anyone found out they'd sent a recovering alcoholic to run the local church. 

A priest is held to a standard above your average person and Paul understood that going into it. You don't just decide to become a priest without doing a little soul serching. Anyone you meet wether they be religious or not will treat you differently when they see you wearing that dog collar. They automatically open up and look to you for help and moral advice. All Paul really does is hope and pray that he;s doing the right thing. "God can speak through anyone no matter how flawed they might appear" Paul speaks out loud to the group the words he needs to hear again.

Having been in the same AA group for over a year; Paul knew every face there save for one new one. She introduced herself. "I'm Alice" 

"Hi Alice" everyone said together. 

"Hey." Alice looked down at her little brown boots and shuffled her feet uncomfortably. "I'm here because I was recently arrested for drunk and disorderly conduct. Once!" she holds up a solitary finger. "I'm not addicted to drinking. I just made one stupid mistake and got a little inappropriate in public one time. I've never been in a situation like this before and I will not be making the same mistake again. Thank you very much" 

"Well, hopefully you'll take something good out of your time here" a group leader replied repressing a slightly annoyed expression on his face. He got the impression this meeting was a joke to Alice and so did some of the others in the group. 

She was in her early 20's, short black hair cute in a cute bouncy bob style, big brown eyes, and cupid bow lips. She could have easily been a little starlet during the 1920's. Alice's skirt was short and her stockings were sheer but she made sure to wear a red v-neck sweater because it was a little chilly outside.

Paul had noticed when she sat directly across from him how short that skirt was and how well her push up bra was working. He made it a point to look and her face and her face only anything she spoke. You have to learn to train your eyes from wandering when you're a vicar but it doesn't mean you don't notice. 

When the meeting ends and the coffee and snacks and chit chat start to run low; everyone slowly meanders back to the car park and into thier cars. Paul sees Alice struggle with her purse and drop her keys so he picks them up for her. 

"Thanks" Alice says fiddling with the lock on her car door. 

"What did you think of the group? Did you like your first meeting? Think you'll be coming back?" Paul had a terrible habit of bombaring people with questions all at once when he wanted to talk to them. 

"Yeah, I have a court order so I kind of have to come back" she chuckles opening her car door. 

"But it wasn't too bad, right? Did you feel welcomed at all?" Paul asks more questions. 

"I don't think I was very welcomed. I'm not an 'real' alcoholic and they know that. I'm just some stupid party girl taking care of some community service bullshit. I'm lucky they didn't take my license" Alice turns the key in her ignition.

"Well, since you are going to be here for a little while I thought I'd try to make you feel welcomed. That is, I hope I have made you feel that way and if you ever think you need someone to talk to..." Paul was the sort of person whe sincerly needed to help people. He felt an overwhelming urge to help people; which was great considering his job discription. 

"Thanks" Alice closes the car door and rolls down her window. "What was your name again?" 

"I'm Paul" he smiled kindly. 

"Think we could trade numbers, Paul? You can call me if you ever want to talk about anything too if you like." Alice hands him some paper and writes down her number for him. He hadn't had a girl trade numbers with him like that since grade school. He wasn't sure if she was being forward or just very friendly. Paul figured it best to assume the latter. 

 


	2. Chapter 2

“Hello?” Paul answers his mobile. 

 

“Hey, Paul! It’s Alice. Remember?” Alice’s familiar voice answers back. 

 

“Yes, of course” Paul smiles.

 

“Yeah, well..”Alice chuckles. “I’m calling because you seemed very sweet and I hope you don’t mind my asking you to go to a thing with me.” 

 

“A thing...?” Paul balances the phone on his shoulder as he holds his laptop in one hand and his keys in another as he tries to open his front door. 

 

“Yeah, it’s a wedding this weekend; Sunday afternoon. I’m a bridesmaid and I would like to go with a date” Alice is embarrassed to ask in fear of sounding like a bit of a desprerate for asking a guy she met just three days ago to a wedding “AND...” she decides to add to make it sound less desperate “I figured it’d be good to go with someone who could make sure I didn’t drink. How do you go to parties and not drink? Do you just not socialize or what?” 

 

“I usually order orange juice” Paul replies as he sits down on his couch. 

 

“Ugh! I’m going to Shareen’s hen party tomorrow night and there’s going to be drinks everywhere and I have to order an orange juice? At least there’ll be plenty of penis shaped lollipops to keep things interesting.” Alice jokes.

 

Paul stifles a laugh as best he can. “Well, I’m sorry to tell you that I’d love to join you at the wedding but I am actually already attending a wedding on Sunday.”

 

“No way! It’s not YOUR wedding is it?” Alice asks in a joking tone of voice but almost worried that she might be asking a man engaged to be married out on a date. 

 

Paul laughs. “No, I’m not the one getting married but it’s important that I be there so I can’t miss it.” 

 

“Ok, I guess I’ll see you Tuesday. Wish me luck this weekend!” Alice smiles at herself in the mirror as she talks to him. 

 

“Will do” Paul says goodnight as they both hang up their phones. 

 

Paul fails to mention that he wasn’t just going to a wedding but performing one and it wasn’t until Sunday afternoon rolled around that he noticed the bride’s name was Shereen and that woman walking down the aisle towards him in a pink chiffon bridesmaid’s dress looked incredibly familiar. 

 

Alice’s eyes widened with shock and her mouth fell agape as she continued walking and staring at Rev. Coates the whole way up to the alter. A little smile crept up on his face as he looked down at his feet to break eye contact. She stopped and stood at her place right beside him. He glanced up to look at her and caught her staring at him with those big brown eyes open wide. She raised her eyebrows and pursed her lips to express a silent ‘are you kidding me?’ and Paul couldn’t help but chuckle out loud and quickly covered his mouth in his hand. Alice started to chuckle back and the other bridesmaids looked at each other a little confused as to why Alice seemed to have an inside joke with The Reverend. Paul shushed Alice and himself and he remained composed and professional for the rest of the service. 

 

Once the main service was over and the reception started; everyone began to mingle and drink and Alice stood by the dessert table quietly munching on some wedding cake and resisting the urge to grab a bottle of champagne. 

 

“What did you think of the service?” a familiar voice turns her head around. “Sermon was a bit dull. I mean, 1st Corinthians? ‘love is patient, love is kind...’. It's a wonderful message but maybe just a little overused. It’s completely unoriginal on my part. Straight plagiarism really. ” Paul says jokingly.

 

“You’re loving this, aren’t you?” Alice gives him a mockingly stern look. 

 

“You’re not?” Paul laughs. “What a great coincidence.” Paul liked to think this chance encounter was providence. A sign that he was supposed to keep an eye on her but he didn’t want to tell her that and risk coming off as too preachy. 

 

“Yeah, it's great. I made a joke about penis lollipops to you over the phone the other night.” Alice felt a little embarrassed. 

 

“Did they keep things interesting enough for you to stay away from binge drinking?” Paul smiled kindly. 

 

“Yes” Alice rolls her eyes

 

“Are you lying?” Paul crosses his hands in front of himself and gives her a stern look. 

 

Alice opens her mouth but nothing comes out at first. Seeing him dressed as he was looking at her the way he was made her confused. “Ugh... I..” she slowly regained her voice “I didn’t come here for absolution, sir." Alice swishes the skirt of her dress coyly. "Now if you don’t mind my girls are looking at me funny because they all want to know how I’m friends with the vicar.” she points over Paul’s shoulder to the huddled mass of pink chiffon over by the champagne bottles.  

 

“Oh, yeah” he looks over his shoulder at the bridesmaids and back at Alice. “Try not to tell them exactly everything about how you met me. You can see how if word got out I could... I don’t want to say you should ever lie for me but...” 

 

“But I should lie for you.” Alice finishes his sentence. “It’s ok” she laughs “I’ll figure something out.” Alice leans in close and lightly rests her hand on his shoulder “Your secret’s safe with me” she whispers in his ear and winks before she walks back to her friends. 

 

“Sorry, girls! Can’t drink...” Alice points behind her to the Reverend on the other side of the room who’s being offered a slice of cake. “God’s watching” she rolls her eyes. 

 

“You looked like you were straight up flirting with him.” Jamie laughs “The maid of honor is supposed to hook up with the best man, not the vicar.” 

 

“There's just something about men in uniform.” Alice jokes flirtatiously. 

 

“You two were laughing together like you shared some little secret.” Jamie talks with her mouth full of wedding cake. “So what is it?” all the girls gather round to listen. 

 

“It’s nothing. I have to go to AA meetings remember? Well, he’s a counselor there. But I didn’t know he was a reverend. So it was a surprise to see him.” Alice more or less told the truth. He’s the one who gave that great little speech about looking inside yourself to solve your problems and that it might be scary but you have to do it. Alice was never very religious but maybe God really does speak through people sometimes. That is assuming God does in fact exist; a fact Alice wasn’t completely convinced on just yet. 

 


	3. Chapter 3

The next Tuesday Alice was back at AA sitting across from Paul. He smiled at her sweetly and she smiled back surprised to find herself almost blushing. 

Alice was honestly having a hard time paying attention. She could only focus on Paul. Everytime he spoke it was always something kind or inspiring. He gave her a strange mix of emotions. On the one hand she felt a sense of admiration for him and on the other hand she felt a sense that her lips had gone without a good kiss for a long time. 

Paul had gotten pretty good at not really paying any notice to the glances on an attractive woman. He had higher things on his mind usually then thoughts of kissing cute girls. That isn’t to say it wasn’t a thought; it was just something he chose not to pay attention to. Just like the way he’d chosen not to pay attention to the voices that told him he needed to drink. 

They exchanged goodbyes by Alice’s car again that evening. 

“So, did you have fun at the wedding?” Paul asked smiling.

“I don’t know. Did you?” Alice crossed her arms and leaned up against her car door. 

“It was alright I guess. I left early” Paul shrugged. 

“Yeah, I noticed.” Alice said but stopped herself short of adding that she was rather upset to find he’d left. 

Paul smiled thinking that Alice noticed his absence. He had to admit he’d grown a little fond of her. On the one hand he felt an urge to protect her and on the other hand he felt an urge to hold her. 

On Thursday morning, Paul gets an unexpected call at 2am on his mobile. 

“Hello?” He answered groggily and half asleep. 

“I’m an idiot, Paul.” Alice’s voice speaks to him on the other line.

“What’s wrong?” Paul grows a little worried. 

“Can you come pick me up, please.” Alice sounds like she’s in a loud place. “I fucked up!” she yells. “Sorry” she whispers. 

“Where are you?” Paul is looking for some clothes to change into quickly. “I’ll be there as soon as I can, Alice” 

Paul drives for a half hour to find Alice sitting on a curb outside a noisy club. 

“Oh, Paul!” Alice stumbles her way up to the car and peeks inside an open window. “You’re so beautiful” she whispers as she gets in the passenger seat. 

“What are you doing out here, Alice” Paul asks slightly worried by his new friend’s severely drunken state. 

“I don’t know, Paul!” Alice’s volume control is off. “Ruining my life, probably!” 

“It’s ok, Alice. I’ll take you home. Which way to your house?” Paul begins to drive. 

“Can I stay at your house?” Alice smiles. 

“Why’s that? Is there something wrong with yours?” Paul smiles back. 

“Hey, baby wherever you want to go is fine by me, ok.” Alice reclines the passenger seat back and lays down. 

“I can’t really take you to your house if I don’t know where it is I’m going.” Paul chuckles at Alice’s drunk attempt at holding a conversation. 

“Can't I stay at your house?” Alice repeats herself. 

“You already asked that. Why can’t we go to yours?” Paul rolls his eyes but he’s still smiling. 

“Have you ever taken a girl home before, Paul?” Alice is too drunk for discretion as she puts her hand on her hip and delivers her line flirtatiously. 

“You really want to go to my house?” Paul avoids answering her question by asking another. 

“Answer my question.” Alice was drunk but she didn’t miss his attempt at dismissing her question. 

“No, Alice. I have never picked up a girl from a club in the city and taken her back to my house.” Paul avoids a direct answer again and decided Alice wasn’t going to cooperate so they were going to his house.

“Ok.” Alice closed her eyes and fell asleep. 

Paul had only been living at the house at the bottom of the hill for a little over a year and to answer Alice’s question; he’d never taken a girl there. That’s not to say he’s never taken a girl anywhere before but it’s been a few years. 

“Alright, here we go” Paul leans in to help Alice stand up and walk to the front door. 

“Thanks” Alice stumbled her way to the door “Boy, do I feel silly” she laughs but quickly changes her tone. “I feel like a total idiot.” she plops herself on the sofa and lays down with the back of her hand up to her forehead. “Am I hot to you?” 

Paul’s taken aback by the question until he realized Alice was asking about her temperature. Paul leaned in and put his hand on her forehead. “You’ll be fine but you’re probably dehydrated. I’ll get you some water.” 

He places a glass of water on the small coffee table beside the couch. “Alright now drink this and try to get some sleep. Maybe I can get some sleep too. That would be great.” he smiles. 

“I woke you up, didn’t I?” Alice maked a drunk pouty face. “I’m so very sorry. Really, I’m sorry.” she sincerely asked for forgiveness. 

“No, I was still awake when you called. I rarely fall sleep. I seem to suffer from terrible insomnia.” Paul found himself sitting down at her feet on the edge of the sofa.  

“Really?” Alice sounded worried. “Why do you think that is?” She sat up and grabbed the glass of water on the table. “Insomnia can be a sign of stress or depression.” Alice takes a big sip of water. “You aren’t depressed, are you? I used to take pills for it but for the last month I’ve just been drinking.” she laughed. 

Alice had never said anything like that in AA. She’d said she never had a drinking problem before but from the sound of it she was on her way to seriously developing one. Paul scooted up to sit beside her and took her hand. 

“I’ll keep you in my prayers, Alice” Paul squeezed her hand reassuringly. “Now I’ll let you get some rest.” He stands and places a kind hand on Alice’s shoulder. “Sleep well” 

“You sleep well too, ok?” Alice whispered to him with a sleepy smile and rested her head back down on the couch cushions. 

 

 


	4. Chapter 4

Paul got a solid 3 hours of sleep before waking up to the sunrise. He walked past the bathroom and could hear Alice in the shower. She'd left the door wide open.

Paul quickly walked down the hall with his hand covering his face so as not to accidentally catch a glimpse of her before going downstairs to make some coffee in the kitchen. He sits at a small round table by a window with a view of the beach and hears Alice coming down the stairs.

"Hey I thought you were still asleep" Alice smiled.

"I was ... Made some coffee for you" Paul points to the pot of coffee behind Alice.

"Aw, Thanks" Alice poured herself a cup and sat across from Paul. "Have you eaten?" she smiles.

"Oh, no. Sorry I didn't even think about breakfast. I always forget to eat" Paul shrugs.

"How do you forget to eat?" Alice gets up and looks through the fridge. "Ha! Eggs. I'm making you eggs". Alice wiggles her bottom and hums a tune as she looks through the drawers for pans and plates and The Reverend can't help but look and smile. He doesn't usually get company and certainly no company quite as bouncy.

"How do you want it?" Alice asked as she slowly bent down and reached for a pan in the bottom drawer. "I can do it however you like"

"Like what?" Paul felt a sudden rush of panic and quickly took his eyes off Alice's bum.

"Eggs" Alice turns around to face him. "How do you want your eggs? Boiled, scrambled, over hard, over easy, over worked, eggs benedict, eggs cumberbatch. Whatever"

Paul chuckled "I honestly have no preference. I'll trust your judgement."

"I'd make huevos rancheros but I don't see any salsa in your cupboards." Alice jokes. "Scrambled it is then"

Alice serves the eggs with buttered toast and a glass of orange juice. "Ta-da"

"Thank you very much." Paul smiles picking up a slice of toast.

"It's the least I can do. I was such an idiot last night. It's all a bit of a daze really" Alice takes a sip of her coffee. "I remember calling you and that's about it really..." She takes a bite of her toast. "Nothing... happened, did it?"

"What do you mean?" Paul had a feeling he knew what she meant.

"I didn't try to put the moves on you, did I? Or vice versa" Alice raised an eyebrow.

"No! No way. I don't have any moves to even try to put on anyone so ..." Paul smiled and looked at the ground. "I do feel like you vaguely attempted to flirt with me in the car before you passed you."

"Well, I'm in a constant state of vaguely flirting so that's nothing new." Alice winks in a vaguely flirtatious way. "I like your house. It's real cozy" she looks out the window "And you have a great view of the beach from here. It's quite beautiful really"

"Yeah, it is." Paul looks at Alice and smiles sweetly. "It's better with two"

Alice's smile brightens and to her surprise she almost feels herself blushing. "And you said you didn't have any moves" she jokes.

"I didn't mean ... I'm sorry." Paul breaks eye contact and looks at his plate.

"Don't be." Alice laughs as she stands up takes her empty plate to the sink. "So how much you think it would cost me to call a cab to take me all the way back home?"

"I can take you home." Paul drops his plate in the sink next to her. "It's really no trouble"

"Well, I'm not entirely sure how to get home from here but if we go back to where you found me last night I can find my way home from there. Where did you find me last night?" Alice asks getting into the passenger seat of Paul's car.

"You don't remember?!" Paul rolls him eyes and smiles.

"I'm so very seriously sorry." Alice looks a little embarrassed. "I really only started drinking like this recently. Last time I got this bad was the time I got arrested and that was a little over a month ago." She tried to make an excuse for her behavior as best as she could.

"Do you think you have a trigger?" Paul asked. "Do you have something in particular that makes you forget to limit yourself? Or something that simply makes you not care about limiting yourself?" Paul stops himself from layering on more questions. "I know for me it was my ever constant feelings of nervousness that kept me drinking. It made me forget I was nervous."

"Are you still nervous all the time?" Alice asked.

"Yeah, I'm always a little nervous. I guess that's just the way I am." Paul laughs. "I can't really change that. All I can do is learn to deal with it without being self destructive."

"Well that's not me at all" Alice tried to think of a trigger. "I never care what people think of me. I just get bored and being bored makes me feel sad and I do hate feeling sad." Alice smiled. "It's a good distraction"

"You're an escapist." Paul spoke while keeping his eyes on the road. "But just because you found something to help you escape for a little while doesn't mean that reality isn't still waiting for you when you wake up."

"Yeah, yeah. I know." Alice looked out the window. "You're always ready to preach; aren't you, Paul?"

The Revered laughed "I'm sorry. Force of habit"

"Did I tell you I used to take meds for depression last night?" Alice suddenly had a drunk flashback.

"Yes you did. You said you don't take meds anymore and that you just drink instead. Which worried me a little" Paul looked at her at a stop light. "Self medicating is really dangerous. First you think it's just a harmless couple of drinks and then..."

"Are you going to preach again?" Alice's voice sounded only slightly irritated.

"Sorry, I'm shutting up now" Paul looks back at the road as the light turns green.

"No, don't. I love how you talk." Alice smiles and feels a little flustered after saying something that so obviously gave away her growing crush. "I mean... you always say things that are kind and you always seem to have good intentions. I just hate to be told what to do and I hate to admit when I'm wrong." she leans in closer to him and nudges him with her shoulder playfully. "I know you're just trying to give me good advice"

"I'm speaking from experience, you know." Paul reaches the road where he'd picked Alice up before.

"I know but I'll bet you've never experienced waking up in a jail cell without the faintest idea as to how you got there." Alice jokes at her own experience.

"Well, you'd be surprised" Paul chuckles nervously. "So, we've reached the place. Where to next?"


	5. Chapter 5

"Take a left up ahead" Alice points him in the right direction. "And what do you mean I'd be surprised?" she redirected the conversation.

"I mean you never know what someone's capable of sometimes." Paul took a left "And you never can tell what someone's experienced just by looking at them."

"Surprise me then." Alice leaned back in her seat and smiled seductively. "I dare you to tell me the craziest thing that you've ever done"

"Are you seriously challenging me to a game of truth or dare right now?" Paul chuckled as Alice shook her head yes with a beaming smile on her face. Paul took a deep sigh and gave in. "I was arrested once but it was an accident. I was acquitted but I still almost lost my job because of it. It's half the reason I was moved to Broadchurch in the first place."

"An accident? Likely story" Alice joked

"I ...accidently punched someone" Paul confessed "I was drunk"

"Oh well, that's not too bad." Alice smiled "Though I would have never pegged you for the bar fighting type"

"It wasn't a bar fight. Left or right at the next light?" Paul came to a stop sign.

"Oh, left." Alice pointed. "So what was it then? A domestic dispute with your ex wife!? No! You were part of a gang, weren't you?!" Alice was on a roll "You were a kingpin for a major drug cartel and some fools thought they could talk shit on your turf!?"

"Yes, all of it, true." Paul laughed. "Except I haven't got an ex wife"

"No, you never signed the divorce papers. That's why you got into that fist fight with her in the first place." Alice laughed. "I'm sure whatever it was you never intended to hurt anyone." she smiled.

"Thanks." Paul smiled back "You know, you never told me why you were arrested. Only that you were a public disturbance. That could mean anything."

"So you want all the juicy details, don't you?" Alice crossed her arms and gave him a kidding glare. "I'll tell you if you promise not to judge."

"You haven't judged me for being an ex drug lord so I'm in no position to judge you." Paul joked.

"Ok fine, I flashed a guy" Alice rolls her eyes thinking about it. She flashed the cop who told her to calm down when she was yelling outside a club at 2 in the morning actually. But she wasn't about to add that last bit. Just like Paul had decided to leave out the age of the guy he punched in the face.

"Flashed? Flashed what?" Paul asked half smiling as he tried to keep his eyes on the road.

"What do you mean, flashed what? I..." Alice hesitated remembering he was a reverend. "Wait, you know what flashing is, right?"

"Yeah, I know what flashing is" Paul laughed. "I'm a Vicar, Alice. That doesn't mean I'm completely ignorant about how flashing works."

"So you know I showed...my boobs" Alice whispered the last words. "What else would I flash?"

"Well, you can flash..." Paul gripped the steering wheel "From the waist down."

"Fair point." Alice laughed noticing Paul was slightly embarrassed for having thought of the latter. "It's whatever" she smiled "I was wearing tight jeans that night so that would have been too difficult." Alice crossed her legs realizing she was in a short skirt today. "Take a right here." she gave direction.

They came to a bland and slightly shabby looking condominium. "Hooray, home sweet home" Alice dripped with sarcasm as she slowly stepped out of the car. She walked up to the driver side window and leaned in to talk to Paul. "So what are your church's policy on dating cute girls on probation?"

"Why do you ask?" Paul had a mixture of surprise and confusion on his face.

"Because I want to ask a guy who can't take a hint out to dinner sometime to thank him for all his help." Alice chuckled.

"Right, I was just making sure that I was hearing that right" Paul smiled "You free Tuesday night?"

"Oh, you're a funny one" Alice nudged him jokingly. "Is this a delicate way of declining my offer?"

"No, I'd love to go to dinner sometime but there is an unwritten rule about AA members getting involved with each other." Paul pointed out. "So we'd have to keep it quiet."

"Ooh! Secret rendezvous. I love it." Alice smiled mischievously. "If you're afraid of being seen in public just come to my place and I'll make you dinner."

"You've already made me breakfast." Paul sounds surprisingly flirtatious. "I'd hate to make you cook for me again."

"Saturday night?" Alice asked.

"I'd love to but I have to be up rather early Sunday. Sort of a busy time for me, you know. How about Monday?" Paul smiled.

"See you then" Alice waved goodbye as she turned to go up the stairs to her apartment. She was actually looking forward to her next AA meeting. And to think that she thought she wasn't going to get anything out of this probation.


End file.
